Log 3
Greeting all the way from Taoyuan. Hello joyful people! it's Quinn again. Log 3 will be also about my reflection after reading the book Thirteen Reasons Why. And this time, I will be focusing more on the plot in the book (as you wish) and what I feel about it.
In case you didn't catch up last time, I'd like to do a short recap for you referring to the plot.
This book is about a girl, Hannah Backer, committing suicide and left a box of tapes telling the miserable reasons behind her death. And since Hannah died, Clay Jenson, the second main character is now listening to the tapes that Hannah left for them, or should I say: people who paid tribute to her death. The last log, log 2, was mainly talking about the backgrounds and the Netflix series comparison. I rarely mentioned the plots. So here it is!
Starting with the first person Hannah mentioned in the first tape, Justin. He was Hannah's first crush when she moved into a new school. But a rumor ruined her days in that school ever since. Justin made up a extremely "sexual" story about he and Hannah in a park, which was totally the opposite. It was just some ordinary kisses and loves. However, people buy things that interest them. People then view Hannah with a different look. Eventually, the truth under the rumors was buried along with Hannah's love for Justin. Eventually, it's becoming a reason why she kill herself.
The first reason is just "okay" for me. Nothing too much and nothing too special. It's about how influential can rumors be to teenagers. A girl wouldn't die for it, you might think. However, it does make Hannah to put this story into one of the thirteen tapes, didn't she? Then it comes to me that: How do people feel facing a rumor about themselves actually? Furious? Stressful? or just ignore it? Sometimes, ugly rumors do hurt people. However, that's under the condition of everybody are buying it. That's something I got from it. If a rumor got no believer, it has zero effect. But it is just so much easier to say than actually do it. Or there wouldn't be so many rumors flying around all the time.
The next story is also about a boy, Alex. She really didn't mention much about their relationship. Anyways, Alex made a list of girls who are hot and who are not. And expectedly, she was on the hot list categorized as the Best Ass In Freshmen. Thanks to the list, she started experiencing sexual harassment from boys. People looked at her with uncomfortable whisperings. There was even an incident that a boy grab her ass kiddingly. And that was all coming from the list. Hannah think that Alex is supposed to take the responsibility of all the things happened to her. Because it gave them an excuse to do so.
Judging and tagging, it's just so teenagers' things. People must feel disappointed and upset when they're tagged or criticized negatively. When other people start to act considering these tags, that make you, as a flexible person stereotypical. It will get hard for you to get rid of the name given by other who don't necessarily know you for who you really are. The feeling of trapped inside the name surely hit Hannah hard. And things like this happen in all ages. Judging is surely harmless until you make a use of it unfairly. Here is the question for today: Have you ever judge people unfairly without really knowing them? Then how do you feel when you find out who that person really is?
Hello Quinn! I love the way you wrap it up with questions, helping us make a reflection on ourselves. During my adolescence, I also had some similar experience, which I believe in the so-called rumors thus having negative impressions on someone that I were not even familiar with, and eventually found out that they were not like what the rumors said. After repeating this kind of misunderstood for several times, I tried to tell myself that never judge a book by its cover and do not be manipulated by the rumors. Hope that one day rumors would no longer be the obstacles that hinder people from understanding each other.
ReplyDeleteHi Quinn~ As you knew, I also read the same book as you. What a coincidence it is! And I just saw the comments you gave below my log. I needed to tell you that I read so fast because I would not use this book as the material of midterm presentation. So, I needed to finish it as soon as possible and started next book. Besides, I love your perspective of the reason about Alex. Especially, "Judging is surely harmless until you make a use of it unfairly." Sometimes judging makes people grow, but sometimes judging can also make people depress and be disappointed to themselves. We need to watch out of our language, not to hurt others accidentally. The appropriation is what we need to practice and learn through out our life.
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